Man faces trial in Sweden after storing partner's body in freezer for years
A Norwegian man who kept his partner's corpse in a freezer for years, after his plan to bury her at their farm in Sweden 'fell by the wayside', faces trial.
The woman was found dead in the freezer in the couple's home in Årjäng, western Sweden, close to the Norwegian border, on March 16th this year. It is believed she died in 2018.
Her partner was initially suspected of having murdered her, but neither an autopsy nor the police investigation could find any sign of her having died from anything other than natural causes.
The man, in his mid-50s, told police that he had found the woman dead in bed and believes she died from cancer. He then moved her body to the freezer with the intention of burying her.
"They didn't want to be buried at a public cemetery but at the farm, actually. So he put her in the freezer to later bury her outside and then it fell by the wayside," his lawyer, Stefan Liliebäck, told regional newspaper Nya Wermlands-Tidningen.
But according to the charge sheet, seen by The Local, the man in the meantime kept claiming the woman's pension and tax rebates, a total sum of more than 1.2 million Norwegian kroner ($116,000).
He now faces charges of violating the sanctity of the grave, fraud and forging documents.
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According to the prosecutor he pretended to family and friends that his partner was still alive.
"The man also used the freezer for other purposes which I argue means that the deceased person's sanctity of the grave was violated every time the man opened and closed the freezer, which is an aggravating circumstance," said prosecutor Linda Karlsson in a statement.
According to the VG newspaper, the man has a previous conviction of rape in Norway, as well as a previous conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol.
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The woman was found dead in the freezer in the couple's home in Årjäng, western Sweden, close to the Norwegian border, on March 16th this year. It is believed she died in 2018.
Her partner was initially suspected of having murdered her, but neither an autopsy nor the police investigation could find any sign of her having died from anything other than natural causes.
The man, in his mid-50s, told police that he had found the woman dead in bed and believes she died from cancer. He then moved her body to the freezer with the intention of burying her.
"They didn't want to be buried at a public cemetery but at the farm, actually. So he put her in the freezer to later bury her outside and then it fell by the wayside," his lawyer, Stefan Liliebäck, told regional newspaper Nya Wermlands-Tidningen.
But according to the charge sheet, seen by The Local, the man in the meantime kept claiming the woman's pension and tax rebates, a total sum of more than 1.2 million Norwegian kroner ($116,000).
He now faces charges of violating the sanctity of the grave, fraud and forging documents.
READ ALSO:
According to the prosecutor he pretended to family and friends that his partner was still alive.
"The man also used the freezer for other purposes which I argue means that the deceased person's sanctity of the grave was violated every time the man opened and closed the freezer, which is an aggravating circumstance," said prosecutor Linda Karlsson in a statement.
According to the VG newspaper, the man has a previous conviction of rape in Norway, as well as a previous conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol.
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